Health officials update guidance for breast cancer screenings for women 40 and over WPXI [Video]

The US Preventive Services Task Force is recommending that all women get screened for breast cancer at the age of 40 through 74 every other year.

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The US Preventive Services Task Force is made up of a volunteer panel of independent medical experts, according to CNN. Their recommendations are supposed to help doctors make decisions and help influence insurance plans.

“More women in their 40s have been getting breast cancer, with rates increasing about 2 percent each year, so this recommendation will make a big difference for people across the country,” Task Force chair Wanda Nicholson, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. said in a news release. “By starting to screen all women at age 40, we can save nearly 20 percent more lives from breast cancer overall. This new approach has even greater potential benefit for Black women, who are much more likely to die of breast cancer.”

There is a benefit to getting screened …